–UPDATE 1/11/12: Back home from surgery. In pain, but recovering. Thanks for those asking after me. Just wanted to let you know things went okay. END UPDATE–

By the time you read this, I will either be on the way to the hospital; waiting; under the knife; or recovering. That’s the beauty of scheduling a blog post which will be left up for a whole week. As mentioned before, I’ve had terrible neck pain due to a herniated cervical disc, which spills over to my hands and arms. After trying all other options without success, I’m left only with surgery. They’ll be fusing the discs in what they call an anterior cervical discectomy at 7:30 AM Monday morning. They go in from the front of the neck and around the throat so I expect I will be on a diet of chicken soup for the next few days. I’ll be in the hospital for a day or so and have the next month off work with unpaid leave. So, we’re taking a hit to the income and welcome all clicks on our ad banners.

Also, the website was hit by a virus on January 1st, which I believe is a fault of a security breach at our web host. I woke up that Sunday morning to find the site was blocked by my Anti-Virus software. But I’m sure, for others, the the virus may have infected their machines. Great way to start the new year! :-/ Fortunately, we were saved by Jamie King of Sparking Design, who had a hand in the redesign of the site last year. Jamie fixed all our websites in less than an hour. There’s nothing quite like being able to turn to a consummate professional when you need them. I have to insist that our readers consider running a virus scan of their computer (anti-malware and spybot too). I am deeply sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. I welcome recommendations for a new, stable webhosting company. :-/

Again, thanks to Jamie for getting BMS back up in operation by that same evening. We will more than likely be calling upon Sparking Design for our upcoming non-BMS projects soon. If you’re thinking of a website for yourself then consider contacting them. They come with my personal recommendation.

As mentioned before, BMS is now a 1 strip per week webcomic. I’ll reintroduce the donation feature for those able to support us. Please make the minimum donation $5 dollars as anything less has a significant portion taken by Paypal as their fee. You will get a personalized thank you pinup within 1 week of the donation. I’d try to respond sooner, but I can not predict how my health will impact my access to a computer in the next few weeks. Hope you like the current strip. Who says Vader didn’t have to complete similar training under the Emperor?

Finally, don’t forget that German is the latest language to embrace Blue Milk Special. Check out Jedipedia’s Blue Milk Special.

Before I sign off, can anyone recommend the best of the original 1960s Outer Limits series?

Also, can anyone recommend any fun, carefree anime to check out? Japanese animation. I don’t want anything remotely epic. Just something I can escape into for a while which doesn’t get all heavy and serious halfway through the series. I have a need for some upbeat comedy at the moment. Thanks guys!